9 February 2018
The Tet season is a good time to learn about folk paintings that have for over nine centuries decorated the homes of Vietnamese families celebrating the arrival of spring. Before pulling out the brushes and paint palettes, we looked into the graphic charm of these images, with their simple edges, often humorous and brightly coloured to reflect an optimism for the Lunar New Year.
12 January 2018
I had my high schoolers sit a “test” to transcribe a William Morris design in pencil. I asked that they work with accuracy and precision to communicate the lines, shapes, values, and patterns in their reference material. I was so impressed with their work that I had the students who hadn’t finished in the allotted time complete their drawings upon returning from the break.
8 January 2018
In exploring a different approach to drawing, I wanted my kids to know about Jim Lambie’s Zobop and anything and everything by Yayoi Kusama. Whilst we didn’t have enough tape for Zobop or the patience to create an infinity net, we cut, rolled, laid, squished, and twisted plasticine to create 2-dimensional images bursting with dots, lines, colour, and pattern.
15 December 2017
I commissioned my students to work on a collaborative painting that would help to transform our rather empty-walled canteen into a budding art gallery. We looked into contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama’s work as we worked together to construct a rich tapestry of marks, circles, lines, and patterns.
1 December 2017
For my Year 6s and 7s –and some of my Year 10s as well– monoprinting offered a new way of working that combines drawing and printmaking. We got oil-based ink everywhere, but the results were worth the extra time cleaning up. Once dry, the kids added a pop of colour with oil pastel.
20 November 2017
I wanted my kids to work with a few of the art elements, and I figured faceted gems would make for a sparkly introduction to value, shape, and colour, and provide an opportunity to practice colour mixing and flat colour painting.
3 November 2017
Naturally I interpreted the topic of balance through an interior design lens, with wallpapers and pattern repeats being the first images to come to mind. I have not taught my students if they finish the year without learning about William Morris!
14 October 2017
Half-term is here, and the time feels right to document the ongoing evolution of my workspace. With a few projects in – and up, student work is finally taking over the powder blue walls. I started with a very empty room, but slowly I’ve been filling my temple to creativity.
1 October 2017
The surfaces in the studio have been christened with acrylic. Dried paint is everywhere! In another big push for a piece for auction, my kids pulled off a large-scale collaborative painting that shows off our pride of place.
27 September 2017
Jumped right into the thick of it this school year with the kids producing work for auction to raise funds for charity. With little time to create artworks to the theme of nutrition, we made quirky collage transcriptions of still life paintings.
